


Bewildered

by xxoceanswavesxx



Series: Nice Guy Adrien the Musical [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien does not look good here, Alya redemption arc, Bet on It, Buy the Stars, Chameleon Salt, Chloé redemption arc, Ice Art, Kwami Swap, Lies, Lila is still the worst, Multi, Nice Guy Adrien, Nice Guy Adrien AU, Nice Guy Adrien the Musical, Perfect for you, Post Reveal, What I Need, everywhere, except for Chameleon, ml au, ml salt, ml salt au, non compliant with s3, polyship, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-03 18:10:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19469350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxoceanswavesxx/pseuds/xxoceanswavesxx
Summary: Sequel to "Bewitched". Based off the "Nice Guy Adrien the Musical AU" by @lenoreofraven.Adrien deals with the fall out of his actions. Meanwhile, a few friends pull through for Marinette.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set to "Lies" from Phineas and Ferb.

_ “Lies are the glue that hold society together.” ( _ “Lies” from Phineas and Ferb). __

\--

For being the daughter of a diplomat, Lila didn’t live anywhere near the exciting accommodations one expected. Sure, the apartment building was rather expensive for the area of Paris they were in, but Alya would have expected her to live in a nice house, or even a mansion from the way Lila talked about herself.

Of course, that would have meant taking Lila at her word. And considering what had unfolded over the past couple of days, that was no longer a viable option. Lila was now known all throughout Paris as a notorious, compulsive liar, thanks to the footage of her curse being widely available. Even without the Ladyblog, it seems as though a few other students had the idea to record the encounter with Bewitched and upload it online. From the copious amounts of choking on her words Lila had been caught doing, enough people were able to put two and two together concerning her true nature, even looking at old Ladyblog interviews she had done and seeing the cracks. 

Approaching the door, Alya hesitates to knock on the door. She gets the feeling that there must have been some sort of fight or argument the night before. Still, a reporter never backs down from questioning her source, and so when Mrs. Rossi arrives at the door, dressed business casual despite not being at work that day, she doesn’t allow herself to be intimidated by the older woman’s aura.

And Mrs. Rossi is perfectly immaculate and put together. Her hair has the right amount of gleam and shine from her hair products, but is relaxed and casual. She wears a simple button-up shirt and black slacks, as if ready to run over to the office on a moment’s notice. Even her makeup is simple but efficient - red lipstick, the slightest bit of pink blush and mascara to make her eyes pop.

In her usual orange-yellow flannel and jeans, Alya feels like complete garbage. There’s no way someone has imposing as Mrs. Rossi would take  _ her  _ seriously. 

“Yes? Can I help you?”

“Um, hi, I’m one of Lila’s classmates,” she says, maybe a bit too quickly, “I was hop- er, wondering if it would be okay to speak with her?”

“Lila has been grounded for the time being, considering what’s been going on,” she explains, “I told her she’s not allowed to have friends over.”

“I promise I won’t be long,” Alya insists, “But it’s very important.”

There’s a small pause, as Mrs. Rossi studies Alya over. There’s just something about the way her eyebrows scrunch together that make Alya feel like she’s being scrutinized for merely daring to exist in this hallway right now. Whatever Mrs. Rossi concludes in her head, it’s apparently enough to grant Alya entrance into the apartment.

She doesn’t get enough time to appreciate the decor by the time she reaches Lila’s room. The apartment isn’t  _ tiny  _ per se, but it’s certainly not as big as Lila made it out to be. Bigger than average, certainly, but not a  _ mansion  _ or anything close to the arrangements that Chloe lived in. 

Lila’s room is certainly impressive, but not for the reasons Lila bragged about weeks ago. All sorts of shopping bags filled with clothes and accessories are scattered across the floor. She nearly trips over a bag lying on its side, her feet nearly caught on the handle. Posters of places all over the world are hung all across the floor, one of which Alya recognizes from one of Lila’s video calls from around Heroes’ Day. It shouldn’t surprise her now, but Alya still can’t help but berate herself for not catching it anyway.

Lila herself is perfectly composed, dressed in an orange, frilly camisole and puffy black shorts. It’s a surprisingly casual, laidback outfit but supposing that Lila isn’t planning on going out or is grounded, then it makes sense she wouldn’t dress up, even for school.

“Hello, Alya,” she greets, pleasant smile apparent, “What brings you to my place?”

Alya scoffs. “I know after yesterday’s events what you’re really like. Drop the act.”

She pouts, her lower lip quivering, “Oh, Alya, you know that Bewitched only  _ made  _ me say what I did because she wanted me to look bad,” she sniffles, wiping away a fake tear, “She called it the truth, but she only made me say what she wanted to hear.”

“You’re not even trying to convince me, are you?” Alya demands, crossing her arms over her chest, “I’ve seen better from Chloe. And anyway, I figured you would say that, so I did some digging. It turns out, a few regular commenters on the Ladyblog had the good sense to actually look at the timeline of your story and point out how it makes no sense. Granted, it was a few months too late, and my reputation has basically tanked because I believed you, but at least I’ll be able to inform everyone on the truth.”

She scrolls to the most recent video she posted, in which Bewitched cursed Lila to tell the truth, specifically demanding her to tell everyone about her true relationship with Ladybug. To build her case, she kept the most relevant comments pinned to the top of the section.

_ mIRACULOUScharm _ :  _ It doesn’t make sense for Ladybug to be friends with this person anyway. The friggin mayor of Paris took and posted selfies and she doesn’t look amused. Ladybug isn’t the sort of person that likes it when people milk her to get brownie points. To be honest, I have to wonder how you’re even able to get interviews with her yourself. _

_ cHattatax47: I don’t even understand why you posted that interview in the first place or how it even blew up so much. I didn’t say anything at the time because of the hype, but now that I think about it, a  _ lot  _ of people were saved by Ladybug, celebrities and the like included. Hell, Jagged Stone  _ wrote a song about her _ , and we found an interview with some random girl claiming to be BFFs with Ladybug after she was saved more interesting? _

_ Ladyblogger: @cHattatax47 to be fair, Lila isn’t a “random girl,” her parents are actually higher up on the food chain.  _

_ mIRACULOUScharm: Now that I think about it, when would Ladybug have saved this girl? If she had gone to another country,  _ someone  _ would have covered that in the news. Especially if she was saving the daughter of someone so important. But as far as we know, Ladybug only operates in Paris. _

_ cHattatax47: You would also think that the daughter of celebrities, or at least people with demanding jobs, would try  _ not  _ to draw attention to the fact that they befriended a superhero. They already have weirdos on their backs, why paint a bigger target on yourself? Not to mention, all the other people that get dragged into the mess (Chat, her parents, her other friends, etc). _

_ Ladyblogger: I’m going to make a post later today addressing that interview, but I do want to apologize for my haste in posting it and not thoroughly checking it. I’ll admit I was foolish to not question such a statement and not fact check such a bold claim. I regret _

_ cHattatax47: I look forward to seeing the correction. _

_ mIRACULOUScharm: Me too. But no matter what happens, I’m here to see what else happens. I hope the Ladyblog can continue to grow and provide factual stories about what’s going on in Paris. I have family that depends on your blog to keep up with what’s happening in my city. _

“Don’t  _ you  _ feel important,” Lila retorts, looking more interested in filing her nails. “Do you really think that a couple of people sharing their suspicions  _ after  _ the fact is going to make that much of a difference, though?”

“Of course it will,” Alya snorts, “You’re no longer going to be believed. All of Paris knows that you’re a liar.”

“And as far as I can tell,  _ so are you _ . Do you really think that backtracking just this one time is going to save the credibility of your silly little blog?” she scoffs, having the audacity to flip her hair. Lila really knew how to put on a show, Alya realizes. Knowing exactly how to make people like her, and make people feel bad for her. But now, backed into a corner, Lila knew exactly what to say to make her hate her. 

“You would have been better off trying to play Bewitched off as a liar. Made it look like her curse was twisting the truth. You remember what it was like to be an akuma - it messes with your mind, makes you do things you normally wouldn’t do, think in a self-righteous way. Bewitched wasn’t making me tell  _ the truth _ , she was making me say things she  _ considered  _ the truth,” she shrugs, “Then you wouldn’t be in the situation you’re in now.”

“So, what, I should be a two-faced liar, instead? Have you ever considered we would have accepted you for who you are if you were honest with us?”

Lila lets out a chortle so terrifying, it made Alya consider briefly if she was Hawkmoth, or at least, was mentored under him. In combination with her rather apathetic tone and narrowed gaze, it makes Alya tense and shrivel up a bit inside.

“But  _ this is  _ who I am, Alya,” Lila says, almost as if she were sad about it. Alya isn’t too hopeful about that. “And now that everyone knows, there’s nothing left for me here. There’s nothing I could do to fix things. My only option left is to let my mother take me away yet again to another country and hope things blow over enough for me to start over. I’m just lucky she was called again to transfer to Belgium.”

_ Nothing _ she could do? The temptation to grab Lila by the shoulders and shake her is not lost on her. Still, she manages to steel herself and instead say, “You  _ could  _ apologize.”

“You know, you’re giving me mixed signals,” Lila sighs, staring out the window and looking as if she wanted to escape, “You tell me not to lie, but then you want me to sincerely apologize? How can I do that when I’m not sorry? That would be like if you went to go apologize to Marinette. You don’t actually care about hurting her, do you? You just care that you were wrong and now you have to deal with the backlash.”

“You’re  _ wrong _ ,” Alya declares without hesitation. After all, if Alya truly didn’t care, then it would have been impossible to break Bewitched’s curse, right? She didn’t have one hundred percent clarity on how the powers worked, but considering that Bewitched familiarized her following the apology, then she must have been somewhat redeemable in the akuma’s eyes. Maybe she was redeemable to Marinette too. “And I’ll make sure to prove it to you.”

She storms out of the room, granting a small goodbye to Mrs. Rossi, who is too busy reading her paper to notice. It doesn’t matter. Alya has no intentions of ever coming back to visit Lila in her limited time in Paris. As far as she is concerned, it’s goodbye forever to that little liar.

The idea that she might be right about this gets under Alya’s skin. Writing off Marinette’s concerns, encouraging her to go after someone that didn’t care about her feelings, and villainizing her as she did should be unforgivable acts. She wishes she could go back in time a few weeks and berate herself for insisting that Marinette go out with Adrien, after he entered full creep mode. 

Lila was right about one thing - Alya  _ wanted  _ things to be right with Marinette and Adrien, especially since Marinette pined for him for so long. But trying to play matchmaker got into the way of being a good friend, even if she thought she  _ was  _ being one.

As much as she fears being wrong though, she needs to see Marinette. She needs to confirm the possibilities for herself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Luka chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's song is "Perfect for You" from Next to Normal.

" _This planet is pretty much broken beyond all repair._ _But one thing is working if you're standing there." (_ "Perfect for You" from Next to Normal).

\--

Getting herself out of bed and ready to meet with Luka proves a difficult task. Even after planning the outfit out the night before, it takes her forever to roll out of bed, drag herself into the bathroom and change. Of course, she always enjoys spending time with Luka, since it’s always so easy and calming. There’s never a need to talk if she has nothing on her mind, and they can sit and enjoy the silence, like a world that only they can experience. 

But now she has  _ too  _ much on her mind. How is she going to continue being Ladybug? What happened to the cat miraculous after Miraculous healing was cast? Has Hawkmoth figured out either her or Adrien’s identities? Who else connected the dots, if anyone? What could be done about Adrien?

_ Adrien. _

She’s too tired to be angry anymore. Although she has no intention of forgiving him for what happened, she also just wants to put the situation behind her and move on. It was pretty obvious by now that things weren’t going to work out between the two of them, and she had too much on her plate to worry about it anyway.

The best option is to just put him out of her mind and focus on her time with Luka. Luka and the Trocadéro, two of her favorite things in the world.

After quickly assuring her parents that she’s okay and needs the fresh air, she walks out of the bakery and makes her way over to the meeting spot. Luka is thankfully chill about being late, so she can take her time and lose herself in her mind until then. 

And when she finds herself drowning in thoughts of yesterday and Adrien’s terrifying expressions, she closes her eyes, shakes the image away and takes in her current surroundings. Fresh spring air sweeping her hair and face, the sun gently sending rays to remind her of the upcoming summer season, the sounds of a fountain in the park, not too far away. She sighs and lets the bad thoughts leave her.

Luka is waiting for her on the steps, although noticeably without his guitar. He’s been without it before, of course, but part of her had been hoping he would bring and play it, the two of them enjoying the silence together like they had before.

“Hi,” she says quietly, meeting his glance very briefly, “No guitar today?”

“Nah,” he hums, “It needed to be tuned. I figured I’d take care of it later.”

After a moment’s pause, she sits down next to him, folding her arms over her lap, and looking at the scene in front of them. Mostly, there’s just university students and adults strolling the area, looking as though they were killing time on a day off. Marinette can relate. Even without all the drama with Adrien for the past few weeks, she still has to deal with her duties as class representative and Ladybug, the tension created by Lila, and her struggle to balance her social life with her creative hobbies that she wishes to turn into her job someday. Life is always work, work, work for her, at least for this past year. 

Not that she hates it. She can’t imagine just wasting her days away doing nothing. But it’s always nice to stop for a moment and only take in the immediate surroundings. Being around Luka made that even easier, allowing her to slow down, think things through more methodically, and be more satisfied with the outcome as it came.

Now, all the thoughts that were overwhelming her before dissipate a bit, but it leaves her at a loss for words. She fails at even forming sounds to come out of her mouth in the smallest attempt to make conversation.

He, mercifully, is able to jump-start the conversation. “How’d you sleep last night?”

She curls her lips inwards. “I’ve had better nights.”

When he nods and looks away, she can’t help but feel a bit guilty. She wishes that their texts could have helped her a bit more, or that she could have believed in them more to fight off the akuma. She’s waiting for someone to just admit that she’s let them down.

Luka drums his fingers, looking down at his lap. “You remember when we first met, and I asked you about the sound in your heart?”

She can’t help the smile that comes from recalling that. “Of course. I couldn’t forget even if Hawkmoth akumatized me 100 times.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen,” he assures her, “But anyway, hearing you when you were akumatized felt a lot like that, but even more,” he trails off for a bit, “Sadder, I guess. It’s hard to describe, you know, without,” he gestures with his fingers, pretending he has his guitar and strums.

“I think I get what you mean,” she says, “I can’t remember too much of what I did when I was  _ her _ ” she pauses, “But I remember how I felt. And if you were to translate it into sound, I guess it would sound like screeching.” 

“It hurt to hear that,” he admits quietly, “It was still unrecognizably your sound, your  _ soul, _ I guess you could say. But,” he looks up, then down again, and finally just looking everywhere except at her, as if to find the right words, “It just reminded me of how much this city hurts because of Hawkmoth. You have just  _ one  _ bad day, he takes advantage of it. You go through a crisis? He weaponizes it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No,  _ don’t  _ apologize,” he insists, “You’re one of the best things in this city. You’re the reason people can continue to live here safely. There are so many people that are happy to have you in this city. Your parents, Tikki, Alya and Nino, Kagami, Felix, and me…” he pauses, moving a bit closer to her.

“Luka…”

“Marinette, I… you’re an extraordinary girl. Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody,” he grasps her shoulder, and she looks up at him, feeling her heart melt as he continues to speak, “You’re the song I’ve heard in my head since we’ve met. So please, don’t be so hard on yourself. There are some days where we can’t hit that one note, and days we can’t play even one note. But no matter how busy you get, me  _ and  _ Kagami  _ and _ Felix are always willing to listen to you.”

Tears prick at the corners of her eyes, and she reaches forward into Luka’s embrace, letting herself be held until she can finally bring herself to say something.

“Thank you, Luka.” 

\--

Luka is perfectly sweet and walks her all the way back to the bakery, hand in hand. She’s almost sad again when he has to leave, but she knows he’ll be back later after she’s had all of her chats.

“If it gets to be too much, you can always text me,” he says, as if reading her mind, “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I think I can handle it,” she says letting out a breath, “I don’t know what’s going to happen with…  _ Ladybug _ . Um, the Guardian…” she pauses, not sure how to further explain.

“The one who keeps the…?” he asks, pointing to his earlobes.

“Yes,” she says quietly, “ _ Him _ .”

“He picked you before,” he whispers again, “He’d have to be akumatized not to pick you again.” He places a kiss on the top of her forehead, “Let me know how everything goes?”

“I will.”

Finally, he’s off back to the boat, and she remains with her feet anchored until the ground until he is far out of her sight. 

The smallest amount of weight has been lifted off her chest, but it’s enough to put her in a better mood. There’s still Kagami and Felix to talk to, and eventually, she’s going to have to confront Alya and hear about what happened to Adrien. Probably have to see him again in school. It was probably for the best, but she’d have to speak with her mom about changing classes to be in Mendeleiev’s class with Felix and Kagami. Even if the school year was coming to an end in a couple of months, it was what she was going to need to make it to the end.

Still, things are looking up. There  _ is  _ a solution to her problems, even if it was just holding out until everything else settled. As she approaches the door to the bakery, she reminds herself that if she can just take it a little each day, bit by bit, hang out with people that make her feel  _ safe _ -

“Hi Marinette.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien didn't get the memo.
> 
> Set to "Buy the Stars" by Marina Diamandis.

" _Oh we don't own our heavens now/_ _We only own our hell/_ _And if you don't know that by now/_ _Then you don't know me that well" (_ Buy the Stars by Marina Diamandis)

\--

The feelings prior to being akumatized start to creep back up, and she feels her stomach clench. _Oh my god, he’s here, he’s here, he’s here, and I still don’t have the miraculous, he’s blocking the entrance-_

Closing her eyes, she thinks of Luka’s confession, as well as Kagami and Felix’s assuring faces that they had her back. She also remembers that declaration she made to Tikki all those weeks ago, being strong and proud and confident. Adrien was no longer going to be pushing her around, and no matter how exhausting it got, she needed to take a stand.

“What are you doing here?” she demands, purposefully turning so her shoulder was pointed toward him. Taking a step forward to her, Adrien doesn’t catch on to how she manages the space between them. She especially watches his feet, making sure he doesn’t get into a stance that would allow him to lunge at her. It would be illogical of him to do so in public, but then again, Adrien had done a lot of illogical things as of late.

“I just wanted to see if you calmed down after yesterday,” he pouts, looking somewhat offended, “I thought you would be happy to see me, Bugaboo. You finally got to expose Lila for the liar she is and made Alya sorry she messed with you. Now that all that petty cattiness is out of your system, there’s nothing getting in the way of us dating.”

A snort escapes her as she rolls her eyes. She isn’t surprised that he’s still so stuck in his own little fantasy about the way things were going to be. “You haven’t learned anything after yesterday,” she says, shaking her head, “Do you really think Lila and Alya were the only reasons I was hurt? Do you know how many times I told you to stop, or to leave me alone, or that you were hurting me, and you just continued to ignore me?”

“But-”

“ _No_ ,” she hisses, “I’m not doing this anymore. You didn’t listen to me when we were still friends. You’re not listening to me _now_ that we aren’t. What makes you think that’s going to work out in a relationship, Adrien?”

It’s thankfully quiet for a moment, though that pout of his isn’t enough to save the moment from being completely unbearable. Just when she thinks he’s given up, he says, “But we have feelings for each other.”

“Well, you know what? That doesn’t mean you own me. You don’t get to take over my life when you find it convenient or because suddenly there’s something about me you want,” she sighs, pinching the top of her nose, “You’re not the light of my life anymore, Adrien. You don’t really know me, and I know enough about you now to know I don’t want you around.”

“Marinette, stop talking crazy like that.”

“Have you looked in a mirror?”

She’s never been more relieved to hear Kagami’s cool voice break through the air, and stop Adrien cold. Although, the sight of an entire team of bodyguards behind her is surprising and catches her off guard. Still, she doesn’t hesitate to run to her side, avoiding Adrien’s hands reaching out to grab her.

“Marinette, get over here!”

“Was being the target of an akuma as well as responsible for the akuma in the first place not enough trouble for you?” Kagami retorts, “Did you also _have_ to go out of your way to harass the victim after the fact?”

“I did not such thing! My father will have words with your family when he hears the false accusations you’re spreading about me!”

“Your _father_ ,” Kagami replies, raising an eyebrow, “Is the one who contacted my mother about _your_ disappearance this morning. We all figured you would try to sneak out and see Marinette again, so I made sure to bring appropriate backup.”

Marinette wants to point out that a squad of fully trained bodyguards, who probably could have worked for Jagged Stone or Clara Nightingale that day, were not necessary for protecting a barely almost out of middle school aged girl, but chose not to argue. It was the thought that counted.

As Adrien lunged forward, the entire team rushed forward, restraining the boy, and escorting him to a limousine. Inside, a young woman, as well as Adrien’s regular bodyguard, were waiting, regarding him with disappointment. They say nothing as Adrien continues to scream to be let go, and begging for Marinette to help him.

The limo is as gone as quickly as it came, and she lets out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you.”

Kagami smiles in return. “Believe me, it was my pleasure. Maybe now we can have a moment of peace and quiet.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Kagami talk about relationships and what they need.
> 
> Set to "What I Need" by Hayley Kiyoko and Kehlani.

" _What I need is for you to be sure._ " (What I Need by Hayley Kiyoko and Kehlani).

With the bakery now free for them to enter safely, Marinette escorts Kagami up the stairs into their kitchen. Her parents take a moment to ask her about her meeting with Luka, as well as the commotion outside. After she assures them about the situation and how Adrien has been dealt with, they leave her in peace with Kagami at the table.

She bites her lip, pouring tea for the two of them, noting the expression her parents had as they were leaving. Obviously, they had been trying to hide it from her, but guilt is a feeling all too familiar to her.

“What is it?” Kagami asks.

“It’s my parents,” she sighs, putting the kettle on the table. “They probably didn’t want me to worry, but I think they were remembering the time Adrien came over to play games with me and prepare for the tournament we were supposed to enter. Just the fact that he came over to my house, and turned out to be the way he is…” she looks down, trying to calm her lurching stomach. She tries to think of another topic, only to groan as she recalls another memory. “I can’t believe we almost fought each other over him, too. I’m so _stupid_.”

“Enough,” Kagami asserts, ushering for her to sit back down, “You already forgave me, and I already forgave you. We were both foolish in hindsight, but we couldn’t have known what we know now. Besides, we learned that we both need higher standards when it comes to romance. For example, a partner that actually _listens_ to us,” she snorts and Marinette can’t help but laugh in return, “Especially when we set our boundaries and demands.”

Even before everything went downhill, Adrien constantly filled her head with daydreams and fantasies. She never thought too much about what she needed and wanted in a relationship, with him or anyone else, just as long it was _him_. Kagami was right, though, and this was something she needed to think over.

“I _want_ someone that can be romantic and have fun,” she says wistfully, “Like, I want to have spontaneous dates at the park or on the Eiffel Tower once in a while, and someone who would appreciate those gestures from me.”

“Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought,” Kagami smiles, leaning forward on the table.

She curls her lips inward. “Yeah, but they were all daydreams. I’ve never really thought about what _needed_ to be in a relationship for it to work. I figured my relationship would work out just like my parents’,” she smiles again, thinking how happy they always seemed together. When they disagreed or argued about something, they were always able to hash it out without pushing the other too harshly. And if they thought things went too far, apologies were always given. 

But then there was also the fact that they were clearly in sync with one another. Whether it was her mother making extra coffee for her father on days where he lacked sleep, her father always going to Career Day for Marinette while Sabine covered the store, or her father always surprising her mother with little romantic gestures, she couldn’t think of a relationship she wanted to follow more than theirs.

“You’re quite lucky, you know,” Kagami says, looking down at her tea cup, “I’ve only seen your parents a few times, but I can tell how happy they are. My parents divorced when I was pretty young, and I never really knew my father. Mother always insisted he was scum, but she had always been pretty critical of men, so it’s hard to say. Needless to say, romance isn’t something I really talked to her about.”

“I’m sorry.”

Her smile perks back up, and Marinette can feel her heart skip a beat. “I never thought I would need to talk to someone about this stuff, but I’m glad I found you, Marinette. You remind me that I’m not weak to open my heart like that.”

“Is that…” Marinette pauses, not sure when her curiosity to know ignited, “Is that a trait you need in someone you want to be with?”

“What I need?” she repeats, studying Marinette quietly. For a moment, Marinette thinks she hears not just her own heart beating, but Kagami’s as well, their rhythms perfectly in sync. It has to be her own hopeful daydreaming though. But when Kagami smiles and goes to speak, Marinette is absolutely _certain_. “Marinette, I need you to know I’ve thought a lot about you ever since we started getting to know each other. I wanted so badly to spend more time with you, but my mom kept me busy with fencing. 

“Kagami…” Marinette says quietly, her eyes fluttering just a bit. “You can’t believe how happy I am to hear this. But I’m not sure about this,” she blinks again, realizing how bad that sounded. Oh no, did she mess up again? “I-I mean, I do really like you. It’s just that… Adrien really messed with me, and Luka also confessed to me-”

“Luka and I already knew about each other’s feelings. We weren’t going to stand in each other’s way when telling you. And we can certainly get together to talk it over once you’re ready, you and me _and_ Luka,” she says, patting her shoulder, “Really, I just want you to know that I care about you a lot, and that I think highly of you. It just happened to turn into a confession.”

Marinette smiles, leaning into her for a hug, “Then that was the smoothest transition for a confession I’ve ever heard.”

When she pulls away, there’s a smug, wry smirk on her face. “Is that so? I’ll have to ask Luka about what he said to you then. And Marinette?”

She reaches into her pocket, placing a familiar looking box into her hand.

“I believe this belongs to you.”

Immediately, she shakes her head. “There’s no way I could-”

“He told me you’re a great Ladybug. And as much as I enjoyed the Dragonbug transformation, you’re a genius with the miraculous, Marinette,” Kagami says, “

As they walk to the door, Marinette catches the smallest glimpse of someone familiar standing outside, wavering near the window.

She’s still entirely surprised to see who it is when she’s finally outside.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya and Chloe deliver some apologies.
> 
> Set to "Sorry" by Buckcherry.

" _Oh I was thinking/Of my time away/I miss you and things weren't the same."_ \- Sorry by Buckcherry

\--

No one says anything as Marinette registers Alya’s awkward, guilt-ridden presence. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and she attempts to hold eye contact with Marinette, only to look away after a few seconds and bite her lip. Perhaps if Kagami hadn’t been right there beside her, Marinette might have been doing the same out of sheer habit and anxiousness.

Finally, as if remembering proper greetings hadn’t been exchanged, a quiet, “Hey,” escapes from Alya.

“Hi,” Marinette says in response, “How’s, um, how’s everything with the blog?”

“It’s…” she bites her lip again, “Don’t worry about that. I just… I’m dealing with it. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay. Better. Luka and Kagami came to check on me,” she rambles, “So it’s been a bit of a busy morning. But that’s not unusual for me.”

“Yeah,” Alya agrees. “Me too. I, um, just finished talking to Lila.”

Her face falls a bit at that. In the aftermath of everything, Marinette hadn’t given Lila too much thought. Between avoiding Adrien, speaking to her parents about transferring classes to be with Kagami and Felix, and thinking about her next step after that, Lila hadn’t factored into any of Marinette’s plans. 

And why would she? After all, once Marinette moved classes, Lila would be less of a problem. She would actually have to go out of her way to cause problems, and with Kagami and Felix around her more consistently, Lila was going to have problems pulling that off. 

“Oh. How did that go?”

“Well, you know,” she sighs, “She _tried_ to convince me that you… er, _Bewitched_ was just making her say what she _thought_ was the truth, instead of the truth. But well, I know first hand that she was lying.”

“Alya, I-”

“Don’t. Don’t apologize,” Alya says quietly, “It’s my fault.”

There’s a slight pause for a moment, with the only sound from the three of them being Kagami’s impatient foot tapping. Marinette didn’t need to look up to see that she is less than impressed by Alya’s presence, but is at least polite enough to let her speak her piece. For now.

“Anyway,” Alya says, clearing her throat, “She said her family was planning on moving all the way out to Belgium for a fresh start or something. I think they're trying to save face."

“Belgium, huh? Funny. Last I asked, she said it was Taiwan.”

The voice comes from the left, and they’re all taken aback a bit. Somehow, Chloe managed to walk over to the three of them, popping out of her limo, and pulling up her pristine, white sunglasses, all with them _just_ noticing her. Though she struts over to them like everything was normal, there’s a soft, considerate expression on her face that is completely new to Marinette.

“Chloe,” Marinette greets quietly. She receives a nod of acknowledgement in return.

“It seems our little liar hasn’t learned her lesson then,” she continues, as if nothing else happened. “What is she going to do if someone gets akumatized because of her lies?”

“As fascinating as that is, I’d like to know what the both of you are doing here,” Kagami interrupts, studying the two of them with a hard glare, “Considering your histories with Marinette, I would hope that it’s nothing less than pure intentioned.”

Chloe isn’t the least bit deterred, though Alya has a nervous look in her eye, avoiding looking at Kagami directly. Another pause falls upon the group, and Marinette has to take the initiative to move things forward.

“Kagami, I’m okay to talk with them,” she says quietly, “I’m sure they both feel bad about what happened yesterday.”

Her expression doesn’t change, but she can tell Kagami is resigned by what she has to say. She takes out her phone, sending a message. “Felix will be here in ten minutes. If he catches either of the two of you saying _anything_ that even _slightly_ upsets Marinette-”

“ _Kagami,”_ Marinette repeats, “We don’t need to go that far. I think the two of them know better than to try something like that.”

She’s not convinced by the motion, but silently nods and waves goodbye to Marinette. There’s clearly more in store for the conversation later, but maybe now, Alya and Chloe can speak their minds.

“Good to see you’re doing better, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe begins, exchanging glances with her for a fraction of a second, before going back to looking at her nails, “I expect nothing less of the person that took _my_ position as class rep.”

After giving Chloe some serious, hard side-eye, Alya looks to Marinette and lets out a little sigh. “Marinette, I seriously want to tell you how sorry I am. When Adrien became interested in dating you, I thought that you were just being shy or upset over the Lila situation. It was wrong of me not to listen to you or take your feelings seriously. I acted like I knew I was best. And it wasn’t even just you that I did that to.”

“What are you-”

“I owe Ladybug an apology too,” Alya sighs, “The next time I see her. I’m already planning a series of posts correcting both the Lila interviews and all of the Chat Noir confessions. A real journalist wouldn’t have posted that without proper context. I was thinking more about engagement and getting the numbers rather than telling the truth. Of course, it doesn’t even really matter if I can’t even get into contact with Ladybug anyway.”

Reading her expression, it’s pretty evident that Alya still hadn’t figured out who Ladybug was. That’s not something Marinette was looking to change anytime soon anyway, considering she didn’t want _anyone_ to know. But with Kagami, Luka, Felix and Adrien knowing, Marinette was going to have to tiptoe around the issue if she wanted to find out if anyone else was aware of her identity.

“I wouldn’t worry about Ladybug finding you,” Chloe retorts, “Worse comes to worst, I’ll speak to her myself. I can’t guarantee that she’d forgive _you_ , but you can’t say I didn’t do my duty.”

A meaningful glance is thrown Marinette’s way, and it confirms her suspicions. Thankfully, Alya isn’t perceptive enough in the moment to catch on to it, and Chloe feels like having enough tact to not say it out loud. That being said, Marinette predicts a private conversation once Alya leaves. 

But for now, they break away from one another and pause for a moment, before Chloe mumbles something underneath her breath.

“What was that?” Marinette asks.

“I _said_ I’m also sorry!” she practically screeches, catching the two off-guard. Perhaps if she was feeling better than she was, she would have taken to the comment more smugly, but she can only stare at Chloe in absolute shock. Not once in the four or five years that Chloe bullied her did Marinette ever hear her say the words “I’m sorry,” and she was never under the impression that she ever would. It seems like all it took was her being akumatized, and she’s a bit bitter about that, but it’s a start, she supposes.

“Not that I’m _not_ happy to hear that,” Marinette responds slowly, “But what exactly are you sorry about?”

“Oh, you’re going to milk this for what it’s worth, aren’t you?” Chloe exasperates, “As a _superhero_ , it’s _supposed_ to be my job to keep akumas from happening. Ever since becoming Queen Bee, I’ve been _trying_ to not say anything so ‘hurtful’ or whatever and get people akumatized. I did _happen_ to notice I was responsible for a lot of the akumatizations in the class. But the fact that Ladybug still allowed me to be a miraculous holder meant that I needed to change my attitude toward other people. And so, I foolishly thought that if I stayed out of everyone’s business and held my tongue whenever I had an opinion, that would mean _bye bye akumas_.”

“Chloe,” Marinette sighs, “It’s true that you’ve said and done _a lot_ of hurtful things in the past, especially leading to akumatizations. But you need to seriously consider those situations over a lot more. _What_ did you say or do? _How_ did it hurt that person? And then _how_ can you make up for it and improve yourself? In all honesty, I think your brazen honesty _can_ be beneficial if put to proper use, like if you knew something about Lila or if you thought Adrien was getting out of hand. Not to say that _you_ were responsible personally-”

“But you’re right,” Chloe interrupts, “I _should_ have said something. I’m _Chloe Bourgeois_ , freakin’ _Queen Bee_! There was no reason for me to be afraid! Ugh, I guess me and Cesaire at least share one thing in common; we both let our images get in the way of our judgment.”

Alya scowls, “Please never compare the two of us again. Knowing that we share _that_ much in common makes me want to vomit.”

“ _No_ fighting,” Marinette insists, “Chloe _is_ right, Alya. You both seemed more concerned about reputation rather than doing the right thing, and while I appreciate the apologies, it still hurt me. And while I don’t want to end our friendship, Alya, nor do I want to hate you, Chloe, I need a bit of time to heal before I can properly forgive either one of you. What I dealt with for the past couple of weeks left me a lot to sort through, and I’d like to decide for myself what the best option for me is.”

Alya bites her lip, as Chloe solemnly nods, trying not to look _too_ bothered by Marinette’s words.

“Of course.”

“Obviously.”

“Thank you, you two. But I need my space now.”

“Actually,” Chloe says, “There’s one more thing I need to speak to you about. In _private_.”

“Certainly.”

Alya frowns, “Marinette-”

“It’s fine, Alya,” she smiles, “We’ll catch up again at another time. And Chloe isn’t going to try anything after what happened. I have backup coming soon.”

Alya doesn’t seem certain about all of that, but she knows she’s in no position to argue. Instead, she nods, and waves goodbye.

“ _Finally_ ,” Chloe sighs, “Let me make this clear. I know about _her_ ,” she says, gesturing to the earrings, “And I’m glad to see that you finally have them back.”

“I didn’t think that you would feel that way,” Marinette admits, her fingers ghosting over the shell of the miraculous, “I actually thought you would be disappointed.”

“Yesterday left me disappointed in a lot of _other_ things. To be honest, I almost completely forgot about it. But as much as it frustrates me, it makes a painfully annoying amount of sense that you’re _her_.”

She bites her lip to resist smiling. Was she seriously about to hear something _else_ from Chloe that she never thought she would. “And why do you say that?”

Chloe averts her gaze, looking like she’s avoiding the urge to roll her eyes. “Ugh, because you’re super clever and creative and stuff. I mean, you came up with that trap to keep me and Sabrina from getting to your personal diary. Who else would have come up with that? Certainly not that fake, can’t do anything because she’ll break a nail Lila Rossi, that’s for sure. Ugh, now I really _do_ regret holding my tongue against her and not giving her a taste of her own medicine!”

“It’s over now, Chloe,” Marinette says, “Lila is leaving and the school and everyone in it can move on. _I_ can move on.”

The annoyance dissipates from her face, slowly growing more into concern and _doubt_. This hadn’t been the first time Marinette had been exposed to such expressions from Chloe, but it was still surreal to see, nonetheless. 

“What is it?” Marinette asks.

“If it’s not _weird_ or the wrong time to ask,” Chloe says slowly, “What are you going to do with the rest of the miraculous holders? I mean, assuming Chat’s been cut from the team, you have to have a partner, right?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing about that quite yet,” Marinette says, “If you’re asking about Queen Bee, I’m still planning on keeping you a temporary hero, because I do think you work well with the miraculous. But I need you to keep to your word about doing better in your civilian life, Chloe. A hero is more than just a good fighter or their powers.”

Marinette expects her to give some attitude about her being “preachy” but to her furthered surprise, Chloe merely nods her head. “I understand. I’m going to talk to daddy today about implementing some measures to make people less akuma prone. Maybe get more employers to offer up free counseling or create less stressful working environments. I’m thinking about seeing someone myself.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Marinette says with a smile, “I hope it goes well for you Chloe.”

Chloe returns the smile, “I have no intention of letting it go any less than successful.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix shares some of his own worries with Marinette. They both assure each other.
> 
> Set to "Everywhere" by Michelle Branch (Cover by Yellowcard)

" _Because you're everywhere to me/And when I close my eyes/It's you I see/You're everything I know that makes me believe/I'm not alone."_ \- Everywhere by Michelle Branch (cover by Yellowcard)

\--

Chloe is pleasant enough that Marinette doesn’t feel the need to usher her away, another sentiment that never once crossed her mind before. She still wishes things didn’t have to get to  _ this  _ point for Chloe to start improving, but it was better than nothing.

“Pardon the interruption,” Felix says, as he approaches from behind the two of them, “Kagami sent me to speak with you, Marinette.”

“Oh, yeah,” Marinette says, giving him a nod of acknowledgment, “Chloe, we’ll be speaking more about  _ that  _ at another time.”

Chloe merely nods in return, giving her a meaningful glance as she turns back to her limo and drives off toward Le Grand Paris. The entire time, Felix has a cautious, but curious look in his eye, as if studying Chloe for the slightest misdeed.

“She didn’t say or do anything bad,” Marinette insists, answering the question tugging at his mind, “She came to apologize.”

“You’re going to have to forgive me if I don’t believe that so easily.”

“I was pretty surprised too,” Marinette laughs, “But you can ask Alya if you want. She apologized too.”

He scrunches his face, clearly less fond of the thought than before, but says nothing else on the matter. Instead, he follows her lead as she walks the two of them inside the bakery and up to the kitchen. Cleaning up the area a bit from Kagami’s visit, she moves to make a pot of coffee and settles a plate of macaroons onto the table.

  
  


“I’ve never heard it be so quiet around here,” Felix finally says, breaking the silence around the two of them.

“I have to admit, pep talks aren’t my strong suit,” he sighs, “But I really did want to come here and show my support, as Kagami and Luka did.”

“That’s fine,” she says quietly, patting his shoulder, “I’m just glad you’re here for me. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

They sit quietly like that for a few moments, him hesitating in what to say. Marinette detects a hint of performance anxiety, and looks for a way to ease him into conversation. 

While there’s no kwami in sight, there’s no mistaking it. Sitting dormant on his finger is the ring of the cat miraculous. That might have explained why Adrien seemed extra desperate to see her that day. Her memories as Bewitched are blurry, but she concludes that at some point, her or someone working for her managed to snatch it off of Adrien, and the Miraculous cure did not return it to him, and instead, it remained with Felix.

“Felix, you realize that’s-”

“The miraculous of the black cat,” he says quietly, “Yes. I’m intending on giving it back.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t have to,” she bites her lip, “Well, I don’t  _ want  _ you to, anyway.”

Neither one of them says anything for a moment, as she watches him process. Felix’s expressions are very subtle, but she’s found herself getting better at reading them. From the arch of his eyebrows, to the thin line of his frown, Marinette knows instantly that he’s drowning in a sea of doubt and needs some sort of life preserver to pull him through.

“What is it?”

“Not that I don’t wish to help you,” he says, “But am I really a viable choice to be your partner?”

“Why would you say that?”

“Kagami and Luka have both had their miraculouses longer than me. And they both work well as heroes. The only thing I was able to do yesterday was push Luka out of the way of getting hit by a beam, and I ended up being a familiar myself.”

She  _ sort  _ of remembers that part. Felix resembled Chat Noir quite a bit, though the shoulders were structured a bit to look like armor, and he had a cute cat shaped belt. His bell was gold, compared to the silver of Adrien. His blonde hair also had a loose, wild look that Marinette never would have associated with the cool, studious Felix. 

Even then, she thinks as she smiles, she wanted him at her side.

“That’s more than enough proof that you’re capable of being a hero, Felix,” 

He sighs again. “I’m sorry. I’m  _ supposed _ to be comforting you, and yet I-”

“No, I’m glad you could share your doubts with me,” Marinette says, “For the longest time, even after we started being friends, I was worried that I would never be someone you could see as dependable because of everything I juggle. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t care about you or what you had to say.”

His eyes narrow, as if offended by that statement. “I never thought such a thing, and I never could. Before you three, I never had friends. Didn’t think I needed any. But you all made it so easy and made me feel so  _ happy _ . I didn’t know how to handle it, so I never said much, but…”

Pale cheeks give way to light pink, and she can similarly feel her own face heat up in response. His glassy green eyes never falter though, 

“Everywhere I go, it seems, I always seem to find a little bit of you in the best parts of where I am,” he sighs, reassuring hand on her shoulder, “In the blooming flowers, the shade of blue in the sky, or on the steps of the Trocadero, sketching away to your heart’s content. I never wanted to come to Paris, Marinette, but you make me glad to be here.”

For a few moments, they sit contently like that, his hand still on her shoulder, and their gazes locked. Finally, as he stands up to leave, she walks over to him, laying her head against his chest, and embraces him, Felix quick to return the gesture. With promises of further talking about the miraculouses and all of the confessions she’s received exchanged, she walks him out of the bakery and returns back upstairs.

Later, she’ll figure out how to properly respond to the three confessions and how it’ll affect her relationships. But she knows that all three of them are only trying to assure her, not to sway her heart one way or another. 

And it’s worked. Some of her courage is slowly rebuilding. And tomorrow, she’ll be strong enough to see Fu and work everything out. Felix would be a worthy partner. Viperion and Dragon Empress will be permanent members, she thinks, with Queen Bee, Rena Rouge and Carapace on hold for the time being. She would insist that at least one other person undergo Guardian training with her, in the case that something happened. Not to mention, lighten her load more. Certainly, after what happened, Fu could understand.

With everything she wanted to take care of for the day done, she retreats to her room, sits at her desk, and begins to sketch a new collection. One perfect for a quartet.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and his dad are not happy, for different reasons. Adrien has a plan.
> 
> Set to "Bet On It" from High School Musical 2.

" _I'm not gonna stop/Not gonna stop 'till I get my shot/That's who I am/That is my plan/Will I end up on top?"_ \- Bet on It from High School Musical 2

\--

The butterfly and peafowl miraculouses are quite the pair, sitting in the vault. They would be better off in there rather than out with him.

Gabriel long considered it, but after what happened with his son, and the latest failed akuma, it was best that he lay low as Hawk Moth. With all sorts of angry calls and posts online surfacing, as well as bizarre theories that Adrien  _ was Chat Noir _ and harassing Ladybug, his place in the fashion world was jeopardized, and only good press would be able to save the day. 

He kicks himself for not sooner dealing with Adrien’s behavior. It wasn’t uncommon knowledge for teenage boys to be unruly, but Adrien had always obeyed Gabriel’s demands following his entrance to school. At least he  _ thought _ his son did. Now he knows that all of his time spent exposed to common people 

But first, he had a  _ son _ to deal with.

The Gorilla opens the door to allow the team of Tsurugi bodyguards escort Adrien into the foyer. His son has the audacity to look rather annoyed rather than properly guilty as he should be. There would be words, as soon as Gabriel could think of the proper ones to form. He’s never recalled having to give as harsh a scolding as the one he is going to have to give now.

“Please tell Ms. Tsurugi I give her my thanks in searching for my son, and apologies for any inconvenience. I will be speaking with her myself later.”

The guards file out of the house. Steam flies out of his ears like the sound a tea kettle makes. Normally, Gabriel finds that sound pleasing to listen to, but combined with his whitening knuckles and shaking arms,  _ pleased  _ would be the last word he would use to describe himself.

“Adrien, I have never been more ashamed of you than I am now. What the  _ hell  _ were you thinking, chasing after Ms. Dupain-Cheng as you did?”

“She liked me!” he whines, “She was just afraid to show me after I turned her down the first time! But then I realized I was wrong and tried to make it up to her!”

“So you took your attempts so far as to get her  _ akumatized _ ?” he yells. Even Nathalie and the Gorilla can’t maintain their normally cool composure as he raises his voice at his son. It makes him all the more glad that he doesn’t have Nooroo on him at that moment, nor did he choose to akumatize Adrien. If his behavior hadn’t been bad before, 

“Do you know what’s going to happen to us now? Your social media presence is going to be absolutely  _ trashed _ . This company’s reputation is at stake, and no one is going to want to work with you as a model!”

“Don’t make this about  _ reputation _ !” Adrien shouts back, “Marinette was the only one who loved me, and all you ever did was try to hold me back! Maybe if I were a normal kid, things wouldn’t have turned out like this! Maybe I’d actually still have my friends and a girlfriend and wouldn’t have to spend all my time doing stuff like playing piano or modelling your stupid clothes!”

“You have  _ no  _ idea the work I’ve put in to give you a comfortable life!” Gabriel retorts, “Everything you could have wanted was provided to you, from the moment you were born! I realize things were difficult when your mom disappeared but…”

What else can he say though? None of his words are going to get through to Adrien. Something else must be done. The damage cannot continue to get worse, and if things don’t change, it  _ will  _ get worse.

“I am  _ disappointed  _ in you, Adrien,” he huffs, “Perhaps allowing you to go to that school was a big mistake.”

“ _ No!” _

“ _ Yes _ . You will resume being homeschooled from now on. Now, if you can excuse me, I have some public outrage to contend with.”

\--

Adrien slams the door to his room, not caring if his father hears or if something falls off and breaks. 

“I can’t believe it, Plagg!” he shouts, hitting the wall, “How could he  _ do  _ this to me? Haven’t I always done what he asked? Why can’t I go out of my way to do something for  _ me  _ for a change?”

He waits for the nasally cat to respond to his antics as always, but no response comes. And as the sound of silence sweeps over him, Adrien slumps against the back of his door, pinching his forehead. How quickly he had gotten used to the antics and musings of Plagg, whether working on his cheese stash or messing around in his room just for fun. Even when they didn’t agree on everything, or when everyone was leaving and betraying him, Plagg was still there for  _ him _ .

Now he’s alone. Again.

He thought a year in school would have changed everything, but just as quickly as it came, it all left him.

_ Unacceptable _ .

He can’t afford to sit around and wait for everyone to move on without him. He needs to get back into the game, win back Marinette,  _ make her  _ see reason, and take back his place at her side.

Felix would be his first target. He  _ stole  _ Plagg from him, and he would have to pay for that. But first, Adrien needed to get his hands on a miraculous. Any miraculous would do, really, it was a matter of getting to them. And he had no idea where they might be, other than with either the Guardian (whose location he  _ still  _ didn’t know) or Hawkmoth (he had at least two). 

There  _ was _ one other clue though. His dad’s vault contained the book of past miraculous holders. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he could stumble upon  _ something _ that would give him the leg up.

His father, Nathalie and the Gorilla are all downstairs, talking amongst themselves as they prepare for the first interview after the akuma. This is his only chance to make it into his dad’s office, and he wastes no time. 


End file.
